Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Dr Pearson moved from Perth to Melbourne in 2009 to complete a PhD at The University of Melbourne. She was awarded an NHMRC Early Career Fellowship in 2014 and has recently been appointed laboratory head within the Centre for Innate Immunity and Infectious Diseases at The Hudson Institute of Medical Research.
Over the past 7 years, Dr Pearson has worked towards understanding how bacterial virulence or “effector” proteins injected by gut pathogens shut down host immune responses to avoid clearance and cause disease. She has made several key discoveries showing that disease-causing E. coli specifically target and inhibit programmed cell death pathways (apoptosis and necroptosis) in the host, allowing persistence of the pathogen. Overall her work has led to the identification of host responses that are essential for controlling bacterial infections of the gut and maintaining gut homeostasis.
Dr Pearson’s previous research on E. coli pathogenesis has fuelled a new interest in understanding disease mechanisms of the foodborne pathogen Salmonella. Pathogenic serovars of Salmonella are the causative agents of a spectrum of disease states, including typhoid fever, self-limiting gastroenteritis, and invasive bacteremia. In Australia, disease caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is on the rise, with over 18, 000 notifications nationally in 2016. Her current research is focused on understanding the role of programmed cell death in Salmonella infections in vivo.
The manipulation of host immune responses by some bacteria is a phenomenon shared with many viruses, thus Jaclyn also has a keen interest in understanding bacterial-viral interactions in the gut and the implications for disease outcomes.
Overall, Dr Pearson’s research program aims to address mechanisms of disease caused by gut pathogens and inflammatory diseases caused by dysregulated immune responses in the gut.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research area keywords
- Salmonella
- Necroptosis
- Cell death
- Inflammation
- Type III effector proteins
- Apoptosis
- Gut pathogens
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Innate immunity
Network
-
Targeting necroptosis in the race to treat acute and chronic inflammation
Hildebrand, J. M., Speir, M., Lawlor, K., Jackson, V., Pearson, J., Hachani, A., Ascher, D. B., Murphy, J. M. & Slade, C. A.
1/01/22 → 31/12/25
Project: Research
-
Understanding immune disorders of the gut
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (Australia)
1/01/19 → 30/06/23
Project: Research
-
Host cell death signaling and susceptibility to bacterial gut infection
1/01/18 → 31/12/20
Project: Research
-
An acetate-yielding diet imprints an immune and anti-microbial programme against enteric infection
Yap, Y. A., McLeod, K. H., McKenzie, C. I., Gavin, P. G., Davalos-Salas, M., Richards, J. L., Moore, R. J., Lockett, T. J., Clarke, J. M., Eng, V. V., Pearson, J. S., Hamilton-Williams, E. E., Mackay, C. R. & Mariño, E., 2021, In: Clinical & Translational Immunology. 10, 1, 23 p., e1233.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access8 Citations (Scopus) -
NleB2 from enteropathogenic Escherichia coli is a novel arginine-glucose transferase effector
Giogha, C., Scott, N. E., Lung, T. W. F., Pollock, G. L., Harper, M., Goddard-Borger, E. D., Pearson, J. S. & Hartland, E. L., Jun 2021, In: PLoS Pathogens. 17, 6, 29 p., e1009658.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access4 Citations (Scopus) -
Sequence-dependent inhibition of cGAS and TLR9 DNA sensing by 2′-O-methyl gapmer oligonucleotides
Valentin, R., Wong, C., Alharbi, A. S., Pradeloux, S., Morros, M., Lennox, K. A., Ellyard, J. I., Garcin, A. J., Ullah, T., Kusuma, G. D., Pepin, G., Li, H-M., Pearson, J. S., Ferrand, J., Lim, R., Veedu, R. N., Morand, E. F., Vinuesa, C. G., Behlke, M. A. & Gantier, M., 21 Jun 2021, In: Nucleic Acids Research. 49, 11, p. 6082-6099 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access4 Citations (Scopus) -
The ubiquitylation of IL-1β limits its cleavage by caspase-1 and targets it for proteasomal degradation
Vijayaraj, S. L., Feltham, R., Rashidi, M., Frank, D., Liu, Z., Simpson, D. S., Ebert, G., Vince, A., Herold, M. J., Kueh, A., Pearson, J. S., Dagley, L. F., Murphy, J. M., Webb, A. I., Lawlor, K. E. & Vince, J. E., Dec 2021, In: Nature Communications. 12, 1, 16 p., 2713.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access5 Citations (Scopus) -
Flexible Usage and Interconnectivity of Diverse Cell Death Pathways Protect against Intracellular Infection
Doerflinger, M., Deng, Y., Whitney, P., Salvamoser, R., Engel, S., Kueh, A. J., Tai, L., Bachem, A., Gressier, E., Geoghegan, N. D., Wilcox, S., Rogers, K. L., Garnham, A. L., Dengler, M. A., Bader, S. M., Ebert, G., Pearson, J. S., De Nardo, D., Wang, N., Yang, C. & 8 others, , 15 Sep 2020, In: Immunity. 53, 3, p. 533-547.e7 22 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access35 Citations (Scopus)